Chason Laing's Reel

Fades Away

2009-11-17T13:30:00.000-08:00

This is Fades Away, a regional band in Minnesota. They pretty much rock. This video is a pre-test, low resolution, quick cut, just a sample from the concert. I'll load a higher res finalized version on here later.

These guys are probably ice fishing right now...

Don't fall in.

One-Shot-Takes & the Blinds Nightmare

2009-11-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

This video, a class project, was a spoof of the TV show The Office. We had to film the entire thing in one hour so we only had time to shoot each scene once (a couple got twice due to mess ups). I wrote the script, gathered a bunch of people who have never acted before, and this is the result. The lighting is so awful - the blinds over the windows gave nothing but glare and trouble. We didn't have the time for real lights or time to cover the bad ones so....

But, it is funny. Divorce and Church don't always go so well hand in hand.

The funniest thing was that while I was filming the 'rubix cube' segment, I was interupted by three elderly ladies who thought I was making a serious video. They believed I was actually saying Divorce was the Devil. I apologized and tried to explain the film as comedic, but one of the old ladies still coughed all over me in protest. They reported me to the campus police and the school President. I felt like Michael Moore. That's the price you pay for filming stuff like this I suppose.

the plan.

2009-11-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

I love the cinematography in this video. Shot with a JVC 24p HD (wish I could post the HD here), Tungsten lights and reflectors. Originally shot to be part of the Community series and re-edited into this. The prison was actually built the day of the shoot inside an older church building. Very institutional looking. Depressing really. Fortunately for the church they remodeled shorty after this video. I stumbled across this song by the Gorrilaz, for educational purposes only. Not to be copied, distributed, or sold. And the song fit so well, I wish I had come up with it first.

Ironically enough, I made this video when I was in between jobs - so it was a good reminder that God was present and would take care of me and my family. Kept me from starting a new life as a bank robber or something...

Emotion Tester

2009-11-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

This is a short video that was designed to convey emotion. Simple story. The song is by Staind, used her for educational purposes only, not to be sold, distributed or copied. Minimal lighting, I think we used one key light in the office, natural light in the car. The actor is particularly photogenic which helps a lot when you're shooting in tight quarters with lots of close-ups.

The Burning Buick Riviera

2009-11-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

This is a short film called Community that I finished in 2007, and wins the prize for my favorite film piece. It took months of planning to work this project out. So much legal tape to cut through. First, being allowed to film at Dallas Baptist University - then the three months of negotiating with the Texas Environmental Commission, the City of Hurst, Texas Fire Department, the 911 call operators...and on and on. In the end, the burning Buick Riveira that you see around minute 9 or so of this film only burned about 60 seconds. That was all the time we were allowed. In that minute, 911 was called 40+ times. We burned the car right next to a major freeway so...

The dad in the film, actor Robert Paul, has gone onto to be in several other shows including Prison Break (season 3). The film is about 15 minutes in length, so thank you all who have the patience to finish it. I am so proud of this piece. All the music was created in house. Shot with JVC GY-HD100 camera, Tungsten lights. $1300 budget. Not bad...

Come to Mind

2009-11-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite videos. Not because of the quality, but because of the movement and style. This was my first music video, I love the song. Filmed with a fairly standard camera, nothing special with lighting - or anything really. The magic was in the editing. This one will always be one of my fond memories. Music done in house.

Storage

2009-11-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

Storage is another video created for the Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, TX; starring the pastor actually. One in eleven people in the USA rent a storage space. Didn't know that till I made the video. I worked with the pastor to write the script. The lighting was a little difficult but overall I like the bluish tone the film took. I can't remember who did the music, but it wasn't created in house. I kept the music for this demo only; for educational purposes and not to be used for anything else, copied, or sold (legal reasons). Apologies for the small titling; they are al basically presenting statistical info.

Meet the Sanders

2009-11-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

This is actually part two of 'Meet the Sanders;' a project created as sermon illustrations for the Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, TX. I wanted to film a project with the camera serving as the audience's point of view, as if the camera was an actual person. Lighting was a total pain; the darkness from the inside of the house and the bright sun outside kept silhouetting the actors. I had to tape three Tungsten lights to the exterior walls to get the Sander's faces to appear on screen. Very guerilla. It still makes me laugh and thankful that these are not my neighbors.

Bear Valley

2009-11-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

This project was made for Bear Valley Community Church in Southlake, TX. They were opening a new building and wanted a special video creation to celebrate the occasion. The wanted me to answer the question, 'What is Bear Valley?' I think the video answered nicely. While fairly simple, I enjoyed the juxtaposition of images and the music which was created in house. I especially like the music at the ending. The titling is too small to read.

Soles

2009-11-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

Soles was created as part of a sermon series. It was originally cut into four parts spread over four weeks. Here it has been recut into one piece. The protagonist is given a new pair of shoes (a new sole if-you-will) that changes the way he sees the world and how he lives in it. Low budget short, but fun to film. For the shady-party scene we brought in over 2500 lbs of dirt into a gym. The clean up was quite the mess. The office in the film is GHLA, an architecture firm in Arlington, TX. Music created in house. My apologies, some of the titling will be too small to see.

Welcome.

2009-11-13T08:09:00.001-08:00

Thank you for visiting my blog site. Here I keep video demonstrations and resume info. If you have any questions or comments please email me at:

chason.laing@gmail.com